PLAY IT AGAIN, REF

Last updated : 10 November 2004 By Brian Murray
Kilmarnock trudged out of Parkhead feeling robbed of at least a point by rookie referee Steve Conroy.

Subsequent TV evidence has shown that the whistler's boobs cost Kilmarnock one goal, while his critical award of a penalty following Simon Ford's challenge on Henri Camara remains debatable.

The TV pictures clearly showed that Killie's penalty claims were unfounded and Didier Agathe had made a superb tackle on Gary MacDonald, but the reason for the angry scenes in the dugouts was the fact that the two challenges looked identical yet had crucially different outcomes.

Surely the time has come to experiment with TV evidence in these circumstances. When this subject has been raised in the past, the main arguments against have been the delay to the game and the two tier system which would be created.

The TV technology available nowadays negates the first argument, as how often in televisd matches have you witnessed a replay of an incident and cut back to the live action to see players still arguing with the officials? TV evidence could even speed up the game! Players would certainly give less abuse to the man in the middle if there was a second opinion available.

The argument over a two tier system is valid, but it is not a good enough reason to halt an experiment. Teams in lower leagues where TV coverage is not as available by and large carry smaller crowds, so the intensity, however passionate the fans in the stadium feel, is not so great.

Saturday's match showed the need for something to be done in order to create a level playing field for all SPL clubs. It is only natural for a referee to react to the noise of fifty thousand voices screaming simultaneously for a free kick or penalty, and it would take extraordinary strength of character to change a decision. Having an instant replay would have meant that rather than awarding Celtic a free kick twenty yards from goal, the correct decision of a Killie freekick would have been made.

Camara may still have won a penalty, and Celtic may still have won the game, but it will have been down to the efforts of the players rather than the errors of the officials.

TV evidence would appease supporters, players and coaches alike, but on the down side it wold kill all of the Old Firm conspiracy theories which the rest of the country find so amusing.